Two embarrassing driving distractions

American Eric Hertz, who moved to New Zealand from Washington DC to become 2degrees’ chief executive nearly two months ago, said he had glanced down at the Google Maps function on his phone when he drove into a stationary vehicle at an inner-city Auckland intersection. …

Mr Hertz’s phone was in a hands-free cradle, and always is when he is in the car.

This would not be covered by the change in law mooted by the Government.

Redbaiter

This why these “dob in” initiatives are dangerous. Any coward is able to use them to embarass or cause trouble to other people they may have a grudge against. It was probably a Labour Party supporter who dobbed in Hutchinson. Despicable.

Patrick Starr

tvb

Then lets ban small children in cars, they are a distraction, lets ban passengers who yell out suddenly, smoking in cars of course, radios playing loud music. And on it goes. The law has reached its limit, safer cars and roads is the answer now.

david

I nearly got cleaned up by a bus yesterday, obviously coming in to town from the International Airport with a load of new Chinese or Korean arrivals, the driver was giving a commentary into a hand held karaoke style microphone while he drove with the other hand. Something you will likely find around many narrow roads of the country during the tourist season.

Obviously a major distraction and potentially lethal but is it covered by the new legislation?

jcuknz

Safer roads and cars may be the answer, but it is an answer of failure, failure to teach people to drive properly and people to remember what they have been taught. Roads don’t cause accidents but rather the inability of the driver, for whatever reason, to read the road and adjust their driving accordingly. So far I have managed to avoid having safety bags in any car I’ve owned, I rarely have the radio on when moving etc.

jcuknz

I have just noted an addition to the site, request deletion, which may be a good thing for when you write something you regret but to be truely useful it should remain permanently as I have found on some blogs. A few minutes to realise you have made a mistake is hardly long enough.

Adolf Fiinkensein

I well recall heading out from my office in Perth (1980), followed by a staff member in a company van. He was late for lunch and was eating a meat pie while driving. I had to brake sharply and years later, indelibly etched in my mind, is his face pressed hard up against his windscreen, smothered in mince and pastry.

Mark

I agree the law is a bad one and that general distractions should be dealt with, if they’re not already. What I’d like to know David, is why you quote the research showing hands-free phones to be just as dangerous as regular phones, yet you continue to use one. Do you have some special ability that makes it safe for you, do you think the research is just wrong, or do you think that the only person likely to suffer the consequences of an accident is yourself and therefore it’s a personal decision?

(I will accept there’s a big difference between your hands-free and the chap I rode past on my bike last week driving at 20kph so he could finish the text he was typing in his lap)

[DPF: I use my hands free phone subject to the conditions, just as almost everything I do in the car is subject to the conditions on the road. I judge relative safety based on congestion, speed, road quality, weather, visibility etc]